Snow on the branches of a tree in Espoo on 1 January 2025. The Supreme Administrative Court of Finland (KHO) has rejected a complaint in which environmental organisations accused the government of not doing enough to meet the targets inscribed in the climate act. The ruling was welcomed by the complainants as both a disappointment and a step forward, given the court noted that such a complaint could later yield a different outcome if the government failed to take sufficient action. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)
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THE SUPREME Administrative Court (KHO) of Finland has turned down the second climate complaint submitted in Finland, reports YLE.
A group of environmental advocacies argued in the complaint that the measures laid out by the central administration in conjunction with its climate report for last year are insufficient and, as a result, are in violation of obligations arising from the climate act and international climate commitments.
While KHO decided to consider the complaint – unlike the first complaint, which was rejected as invalid – it pointed out that the central administration has recognised the need for additional measures particularly in the land-use sector and begun drafting the measures. As implementing the measures takes time, it added, it is impossible to rule on whether they can be considered insufficient relative to the target set for the burden-sharing sector for 2030 and the climate-neutrality target set for 2035.
The climate report therefore cannot be regarded as violating law.
The court also noted that the complaint could yield a different conclusion at a later date, if it was shown that the additional measures are insufficient to meet the binding objectives set forth in the climate act.
The complaint was submitted to KHO by Amnesty International Finland, Greenpeace Norden, Finnish Climate Grandparents, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (SLL), Finnish Nature Association and Finnish Sámi Youth Association. They argued that government inaction is threatening the realisation of a total of six sections of the climate act, as well as infringing on basic and human rights.
Although disappointing, the ruling was welcomed as a step forward by SLL.
“Our complaint being rejected is a tremendous disappointment. However, KHO confirmed that the carbon-neutrality target for 2035 and other targets in the climate act require compliance and obligate the government to take further measures to achieve carbon neutrality in line with the climate act,” said Hannes Koljonen, an environmental law expert at SLL.
“If this is not done, it can have legal consequences. This is a final warning of sorts to the government.”
“It has to make decisions on new emission reduction measures and measures to rescue the carbon sinks in the framework session this spring,” he added.
YLE reminded in its report last week that experts have long sounded the alarm that the country is on track to fall well short of its climate goals. Also Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen (NCP) conceded in conjunction with the launch of the climate report in mid-2024 that a substantial drop in logging volumes is a prerequisite to meeting the goals.
The government has similarly acknowledged that it will not be able to strengthen the carbon sink of forests to the degree required by the EU. The Finnish Climate Change Panel, in turn, has reprimanded the government for measures that increase transport emissions, despite a pledge made to the 27-country bloc to reduce them significantly.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
